STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Shares in AB Volvo fell 7% on Tuesday after the Swedish truckmaker warned of a substantial hit on production in the second quarter due to the global shortage of semiconductors.
The company, which has 18 production facilities globally, was forced by the shortage to cut production at its factories in Belgium and Brazil.
Deutsche Bank analysts estimated that Volvo would make 16,000 fewer trucks in the second quarter and consensus earnings could come down by 4-7% this year.
The Swedish company, a rival of Germany’s Daimler and Traton, said late on Monday visibility into the supply chain of semiconductors was very low and that the disturbances would also impact other group business areas.
Assuming four weeks of lost sales in Europe and Brazil and a greater than 30% drop through, the impact would be 3.6 billion Swedish crowns ($421.7 million) on second-quarter earnings before interest and tax, Citi analysts estimated.
Semiconductor shortages have hit global automakers, forcing them to cut or halt production as the available supply of chips were booked by makers of consumer electronics such as smartphones – the chip industry’s preferred customers because they buy more advanced, higher-margin chips.
U.S. automakers such as General Motors and Ford, Germany’s Volkswagen and Japan’s Honda Motor have all suffered a hit to production.
Volvo Cars, owned by China’s Geely Holdings, had also said it would temporarily stop or adjust production in China and the United States for parts of March.
($1 = 8.5363 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; editing by Niklas Pollard)
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